Foto: ARQUIVO PESSOAL
,, I always say: Jeri belongs to the wind!
Carla Arruda arrived in Jericoacoara before electricity. The chef and sailor was living in Morro de São Paulo, Bahia, when she first heard about Jeri. A friend spoke so highly of the place that she decided to travel there — and stayed. A pioneer in the village’s kite schools, Carlinha, as she is known by friends, is the mother of two kitesurfers, one of whom is Flora Arruda, currently working in marketing for Eleveight Brazil. Here, you’ll learn how her love story with the sea and sailing began, and how she founded Naturalmente, one of the destination’s most traditional restaurants, which originally operated by lantern light.
Carla fishes in Jericoacoara, where she made her home
Carla, how did your passion for the sea begin?
My father gave me my first foam surfboard in 1980. To this day, I remember walking down the hill that led to Praia do Futuro and the feeling of gliding over the waves all the way to the sand. That board was my inseparable companion until it broke in half. At the end of the 1980s, another passion swept me away: the Morey Boogie Mach 7. Every day after school, I would stop by Mesbla just to admire it. Back then, there weren’t many women in the water, and practicing ocean sports often caused family conflicts. I left home, started working at Cavalo Marinho — a company that embraced me — and began traveling to competitions…
Mother and son are partners both in and out of the water
Do your two children share the same passion?
Yes! Both of them live in the water… Pedrinho has his own kite school in Jeri, and Flora lives in Preá and runs her own school there with her boyfriend. That’s my legacy — the best part of me: connecting my body to the wind and the sea and being moved by that energy. I hope to see this salty genetics continue through my school of fish.
Flora kites in Spain, where she spends part of the first half of the year
Flora, how did you fall in love with the sea?
Surfing brought me to the ocean. I started surfing at the point break in front of Naturalmente. Then came kiteboarding in Preá. Today, I surf foil boards, ride kitewave and twin-tip, and I still love jumping high in kiteboarding — a sport that has already taken me to Spain, France, Switzerland, Italy, and Portugal. The most incredible thing is that no matter where I am in the world, if I’m in the sea, I feel at home. In the ocean, I am happy.
The passion for the sea continues in the second generation of the Arruda family
Did your mother inspire you to live this life?
Yes, my mother is my greatest inspiration. Since I was little, I watched her teaching, and I would play at teaching my friends. During high season, I make a living teaching surfing in the morning and kiteboarding in the afternoon. As long as I can, I’ll keep teaching. I’ve had students from six to sixty years old.
View of Naturalmente
Carla, why live in Jeri?
Jeri came into my life like magic… I had no plans when I arrived there, but an Italian woman offered me a kitchen so I could start my business. My first kitchen was built from gifts from friends. We didn’t have electricity, so I worked by lantern light. I woke up at 4 a.m. to go fishing, which guaranteed lunch for the week. The sea is my greatest love.
Carla is part of the first generation of kitesurfers in Ceará
Did sailing come only after surfing and fishing?
Yes… As soon as the first windsurf sails arrived in Jeri I completely fell in love with that colorful possibility of being in the sea, this time embraced by the wind. The Italian Mauricio Gusella decided to take on an impossible mission: teaching the sport in the ocean using his own equipment. The group was made up of some locals and me. From Mauricio’s initiative came Jeri’s best generation of windsurfers, and we changed both our own history and the history of the place. A few years later, kitesurfing arrived, and we became Ceará’s first generation of kitesurfers. Back then, there was no safety equipment or teaching methodology. We taught and learned through love, friendship, and with a knife attached to the harness… I always say: Jeri belongs to the wind!
Carla has been making the best crepes in Jeri for almost 30 years
How did Naturalmente begin?
A French friend was missing his grandmother’s crepes, so he called her in France and asked for the recipe. That recipe became the first crepe I ever made, but since then, I’ve improved it until reaching the crepe we serve today. I started Naturalmente in the village, and soon after, the beachfront location appeared, where I’ve now been for 27 years.
The chef from Ceará connects with the sea in many ways
At 52 years old, do you still have the same energy to get into the water?
I’ll sail until I die. Last year, I got my amateur skipper’s license, and now I’m preparing to earn my master skipper certification. Every sport I practice is a way of being in the sea. When there's no wind, I go searching for waves with my SUP wave board, and if there’s neither wind nor waves, I surrender to the magic of swimming, which brings an incomparable feeling of belonging to the ocean…
